Over 19 lakh children administered polio drops in Punjab

Chandigarh, Feb 27 (PTI) Nearly 19.36 lakh childrenbetween the age of 0-5 years were today covered under secondNational Immunisation round of Pulse Polio 2010-11 at over15,000 booths in several districts of Punjab.

State Health and Family Welfare Minister Laxmi KantaChawla launched the campaign from Rangar Nangal in Gurdaspurdistrict by administering drops to children.

Chawla said today being the booth day of the three-daycampaign, 15,338 polio booths were established covering allprime locations along with remote areas.

Around 70,000 officials have been deployed for the PulsePolio campaign in the state in which approximately 38 lakhchildren below the age of 5 years will be given the vaccine,he said.

The entire exercise is being supervised by the seniorofficers of the department in various districts of the state.

A house to house visit will be undertaken on 28 Februaryand March 1 to cover all those children who haven''t visitedthe booths today, Chawla said.